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Why do we subsidize our employers with our money and our health?


I just ran into this old article which reminded me of something I read a few weeks ago. That more recent article (which I can't find because I am aging disgracefully) talked jokingly about how Americans eat too much fast food. The article was not substantive, but American commenters were very upset because Europeans don't understand convenience.

The argument was that Americans eat fast food frequently because it is convenient to their lifestyle. Which made me realize just how much the American worker has embraced their employers' needs as their own...while their employers simultaneously fight against the needs of their workers, even for things as simple as a living wage.

Let's be clear: Americans eat fast food because their employers give them very limited time to eat. This creates two problems: 1. Americans eat unhealthy food that is readily available and filled with empty calories and 2. Americans spend more money on that less nutritious food to increase their availability to their employers. (Think about the cost of making one plate of pasta, shrimp and capers v. a McDonald's meal-where I live, the shrimp meal would be cheaper if I only had the time to prepare it)

By embracing "convenience" as a personal benefit and not as a necessity created by employers and their policies, workers continue to subsidize terrible and unhealthy business models. If employers were good at what they do, they would be able to make a living by paying their workers fair wages on fewer hours so their employees could have time to prepare and eat healthy foods. Anything less, and the employer essentially depends on the subsidy of their employees in order to exist. We live in an economic climate where most employers are bad at their business, so that they need their employees to subsidize their business endeavor with money, time and health. Any good business person would never depend on such a subsidy.

Here is the thing though, at what point in our history did Americans accept that this subsidy to their employers was anything other than a subsidy? Italian, Turkish and German workers go up in arms at attempts to cut the time they have to prepare and eat food. Mind you, Turkey and Germany are lending countries globally, while Italy is a borrowing country. What we see is that having an economy that fosters employers who don't need this subsidy from workers doesn't necessarily lead to either a good or bad macro economy, but an economy that requires this employee subsidy does lead to an unhealthy country.

So my question is, when are American workers going to take their time, health and money back?
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